Apocalypse Series: Season 1: Fortuna Devil Crisis
by HubrisP
Summary: First in a chain of Seasons. Shortly after Dante's return from Hell after DMC2 the Pride Demons kidnap Nero and Kyrie to use in a sacrifice, however Mysticus and Demon Queen Lilith have other ideas, to raise an "Original Devil" from Hell.
1. Rising Pride Arc: Phase 0

**Apocalypse Series – Season 1 – The Fortuna Devil Crisis**

**Disclaimer – I do not own anything related to Devil May Cry in this series, that right goes to CAPCOM. I do however own the Original Characters, Plot and ideas that make up this story. Enjoy!**

**Phase 0 – Return from Hell**

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**20****th**** December, 2010 AD, 12:45pm; North America: Abyss City, Residential Area: Devil May Cry Store, Main Room**

Dante leaned back in his chair and groaned as he ran his hands through his hair, it had been a week since he had returned from Hell and all he had found once he came out of that Pit of Despair was nothing similar to prior going in there, the Demons around the World were becoming more…active as signs across the Earth began to mirror the preparations being done in Hell. Demons were escaping out of the Pit more and more often, each of the Demons rising out of the Pit were either in packs or single powerful Demons and the numbers or strength of the Demons increased as time went on, Lucia and Lady didn't believe him however he knew that a literal Devil would be rising soon and once it did then Hellions on Earth would rally around them.

"You're sure?" questioned Trish suddenly from where she was sitting back into the sofa with a frown on her face "an invasion?"

"I have spent an entire week, looking over my shoulder and working constantly without sleep, do you think I'm any less sure!" snarled Dante while running a hand through his hair.

"Get some sleep, I'll keep watch while you rest" announced Trish with a tone that she didn't want an argument, she didn't move until Dante had headed up stairs.

Quick as a whistle the Blond Haired Artificial Demon stood and crossed over to a table nearby where she had leaning against it a Golden Version of the 'Alistair' Sword Devil Arm called 'Adrian' and on top of the table were two handguns: 'Luce' and 'Ombra', stashing both of the guns on her cloths and putting the sword on a sheath on her back she crossed over towards the doorway muttering an incantation, as she stepped outside the door runes glowed across the building upon Anti-Demon energy imbedded in the walls activating. Outside there were a semicircle of people with glowing light purple eyes that Trish knew belonged to Demons and purple eyes signified high ranked Demons but not unique, independent demons like Dante would assume, the truly different Demons were those with white eyes which was the only thing those Demons had in common.

"Trish" commented a voice before a Dante-lookalike paced towards him from the middle of the semicircle and his frozen blue eyes were a contrast to Dante's electric blue ones "I am Virgil"

"Dante's brother" nodded Trish as she drew 'Ombra' and 'Luce' as she paced towards the centre of the semicircle therefore mirroring Virgil "I heard you died, as Nelo Angelo, or is Dante right and Mundus or his ilk are rising again?"

"Mundus is a kid compared to what we are preparing to rise" answered Vergil as he paced anticlockwise around the semicircle and Trish did similar "Mundus never taught you about the Hierarchy of Hell nor who commands it, though it isn't hard to guess based on human writings"

"What are you trying to rise?" questioned Trish cautiously as she looked as the Katana held in his grip and held back a whistle when she noticed the Demon Katana 'Zamato', a legendary black handled Katana that had three Longsword-type guards with skulls at the centre of those guards, it was clenched tightly in Vergil's left hand and Trish knew that it could easily be transformed into Nelo Angelo's Longsword with the right input of power.

"None of your business" answered Vergil and Trish rolled to the right as Vergil teleported a foot away from her and slashed out with 'Zamato'.

Trish went to draw 'Adrian' which was a Golden Sword crafted in Alistair's image for Trish's specific reason of transferring and containing as much of her Demonic Energy as possible for when she didn't need it in the outside world, the 'Adrian' was practically her Devil Arm and therefore it contained a fragment of her soul which Trish believed if she had a human or divine soul to be called a 'Soul Weapon', before Trish could use her personal sword however she could only stare up in fear as 'Zamato' descended towards her about to slice off her head at the neck…and then. There was another sword there and it was roughly 5'5 feet long, shaped like a holy cross and rippling scorching fire along its silver length but what was more surprising was that a kid was wielding it, a youth of fiery hair and blue-green eyes that under flames looked golden. The youth himself was about as tall as his sword and had a Blue Dragon tattoo curling up from his almost bare chest to almost the side of his nose, he wore heeled leather knee length boots with thigh length leather shorts and a net shirt which was probably the most fitting thing he had for battle, the youth didn't look like a devil at all with the only thing hinting otherwise was the bloodthirsty desire for combat and bloodshed glowing in the youth's eyes.

"Ya know that was mean, to hit a woman like that" commented the youth as he swung out with his sword causing Vergil to stumble back while the youth wore a scowl on his face "they are all useless wenches, if they can't fight then why are they on a battlefield, all a bunch of useless whores and wenches"

"You're so strong yet you are not tainted by Demonic energy, what are you?" snarled Vergil however the youth just shrugged, suddenly two massive white feathered wings burst from his back, a smirk on the youth's face.

"The name's Michael" dismissed the youth as Michael stepped back, pointed fangs showing from under slightly open lips.

"An Angel?" questioned Trish in a daze and Michael glared at her for a moment before looking back at Vergil.

"So, are ya going to fight or flee, your boys have already left" shrugged Michael as the Angel stabbed his Sword into the ground and leaned on it "orders from higher up, eh?"

"You're right, speaking of which I should also answer that call, excuse me" growled Vergil before disappearing into blue flames.

"Ugh, Assiah is so boring" complained Michael as he pulled out his sword and turned to walk away, by the time that Trish was on her feet the now retracted winged being of God had long since walked out of view.

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**3:00pm; North America: Abyss City, Forbidden Land: Temen-ni-gru, Peak**

At the peak of the Devil Tower stood a man of six feet tall with a cold glare that made Vergil squirm, his long black hair trailed his robes and the staff he had was stabbed into the alcove beside him as he thought, a powerful negative aura rippled outwards from his body and Vergil knew that the man was more than a Devil: he was one of the original Devils. Three Black Angelic wings suddenly extended from his back as he turned to face the Vergil, the Devil winced as the cold glare held him and Vergil knew that one mistake by a lesser Demon would be its last, it was quite fortunate that a higher ranked original Devil had seen importance in Vergil – enough to kill Mundus and give the power of the 'Prince of Darkness' to the eldest son of Sparda.

"So…" started the Original Devil as he crossed his arms behind his back "Michael intervened"

"Yes, Lord Mysticus" kneeled Vergil and the black haired Fallen Angel frowned.

"Unexpected of that eccentric thrill seeker, regardless you're attack on Devil May Cry was to kill Dante or failing that to send a message however our primary victory has been noted, Lilith has begun the final preparations at Fortuna" announced Mysticus as he turned around "we will be heading there shortly, the Ritual must go ahead as soon as possible, before the Pride Demons in the area start sacrificing individuals to Leviathan"

"Understood, my Lord" announced Vergil and Mysticus frowned slightly as he looked back at the son of Sparda.

"I sense that you are troubled, feelings for you're family are filtering to the surface, never forget that you serve me" lectured Mysticus while stabbing his index finger towards Vergil's chest.

"Yes, my Lord" announced Vergil as he bowed his head lightly "I will do everything you wish"

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**21****st**** December, 10:00am; North America: Abyss City, Residential Area: Devil May Cry Store, Main Room**

"Morning wench" announced Michael and Trish's tired head shot up to see the Red Haired Angel sitting on the sofa.

Trish had to notice that the youth was wearing something different today or more accurately he was wearing a leather coat instead of a net shirt, he scowled at her and Trish decided that the seeming youth did not like women at all especially with the glare that Trish was getting from the Angel, obviously the Angel was waiting for Dante to get up and Trish knew that it wasn't a good idea to dissuade someone of such obvious power from waiting around. Dante had been asleep all night and Trish had been surprised after his recent paranoia that he could have slept for so long however Trish knew one problem to Dante's rest, soon work was about to come knocking on their door and Trish could only guess that it would come from the crimson haired Angel, speaking of the Devil literally as the Hunter was coming down the stairs and only paused to frown at the crimson haired youth prior to heading over to the desk to sit down.

"Fire Archangel Michael" groaned Dante as he face palmed "what do you want, I haven't done anything wrong recently, right?"

"You know him?" questioned Trish surprised while the red headed Angel grinned wolfishly.

"We've met before" answered Michael in a sing song voice.

"You tried to fucking kill me for calling him short, not that I am now, but you get the idea!" shouted Dante and Michael shrugged innocently "why are you here!"

"Not to kill ya…not this time" grinned Michael as the fire Angel stood "have ya heard from any of you're Demon Hunting buddies recently?"

"I've noticed that some have gone missing" announced Dante however before he could continue he was cut off by the Fire Angel.

"And did ya know that ya Fortuna friends have been napped and are to be used in the Winter Solstice Sacrifice in four days?" asked Michael as he crossed his arms across his chest "napped by Pride Demons, in fact"

"That isn't good, isn't the Winter Solstice when the Barriers between the Demon World and Human World are at their weakest, I heard a lot of nasty beasts and magic wake up on the Solstice" commented Trish and Dante nodded, remembering that piece of info.

"The Roman Winter Solstice is on the 25th of December" commented Michael and Dante bridged his fingers deep in thought "it's also when sacrifices are made by Demons to their Gods"

"The Demons have Gods?" questioned Trish and Michael nodded.

"There are Nine Major Gods of the Dark Empire and One Main God, the Nine Major Gods represent the Advisory Council in Hell and are split between the Cardinal Sins: Pride, Deprivation, Envy, Vainglory, Wrath, Lust, Avarice, Gluttony and Sloth" explained Michael seriously as he walked up to the desk and leaned on it "each of them are Fallen Angels which were given the Title of Satan or Devil and they are the strongest out of the Original Devils, they are the second individuals to hold the title and therefore second in power to only one, the only one above them is the Main God himself who is The Satan or The Devil and Rules the Dark Empire as its Emperor, my twin brother: Lucifer"

"So, is it one of these High Devils they are sacrificing to, the Satan of Pride?" asked Dante and Michael nodded again as his head fell to his chest, deep in thought about the type of High Devil they will be eventually fighting.

"The Demons call him Leviathan, a rumoured serpent of darkness and destruction but for the love of me I can't remember his Angelic name off the top of my head, as an angel he wouldn't be a serpent but I remember a being in Heaven with such an eroding energy but can't remember who" shrugged Michael as he stood straight "he is possibly the strongest or second strongest of the High Devils, maybe holding first place with Deprivation, Leviathan is Pride and Pride is the Seed of all Sins – the Father of all Sins and a being strengthened by them"

"So he's powerful?" questioned Dante and Michael shrugged.

"Strong enough for Sparda not to cross him and respect him, a High ranked Angel or Fallen Angel cannot truly 'die', with great difficulty they can be 'killed' however their bodies cannot be destroyed nor their souls – under the right conditions that person could be revived" answered Michael calmly "so even if Sparda could stick him with a sword, it would do very little good"

"Then we head to Fortuna" announced Trish causing both Michael and Dante to glance at her as she stepped forwards "we make sure that the High Devil doesn't rise nor that Nero and Kyrie get sacrificed to that Devil"

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**Meanwhile; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Dining Room**

Nero groaned lightly as he lifted his head from the cold floor, in which he lay and immediately recognised the room as the formerly tabled dining room in Fortuna Castle, the Table and chairs were all against the walls where they didn't block major exits leaving the centre of the room. The floor around Nero was a circle with specific runes which when Nero touched his hand over the runes caused his hand to burn and he winced as he withdrew the sizzling Devil Bringer back into the circle, the language of the runes were outside of Nero's understanding however they looked familiar to him though he didn't know where from, when Nero looked up he saw a woman with blond hair and greyish-white eyes standing off to the side in a warrior maiden's armour grey armour.

"Good to see that you're finally awake" announced the Demonic Woman from where she moved to lean against the table "I'm Lilith"

"Lilith? As in the Bitching first Woman and Wife of Adam?" asked Nero as he cautiously got to his feet and glared at the woman.

"And the first Demon" answered Lilith with a coy smile "I'm sure you want to know why you're here"

"Sure I do" grunted Nero dismissively as she looked around the room while turning his body also, running a finger of a free hand along the area above the runes, looking for weaknesses on the invisible barrier.

"You escape, Kyrie dies, on a more informative note: you were captured by Pride Demons hoping to sacrifice you to Leviathan on the Roman Winter Solstice in four days" announced Lilith as she crossed a leg over the other when she was sitting on the table "but I know a loophole that I require your help with"

"Yeah? And what is that?" questioned Nero suspiciously causing Lilith to grin viciously.

"Make an agreement with me, you rise the Devil King from the Pit or the Demon World if you'd rather, he will grant us a boon for bringing him into the Human World and he's more than enough to deal with a few rogue Pride Demons to free you" announced Lilith as she uncrossed her leg and crossed her other leg over the prior one "escape and you both die, don't agree by the Solstice and you both also inevitably die, you are used to risking your life but are you willing to risk…Kyrie's life?"

"A lose-lose situation, huh?" asked Nero and Lilith shrugged.

"Consider what it means to survive boy, I will come back each day at midday expecting an answer, the last will be on the day of the Solstice, choose wisely" announced Lilith as she stood, moments later she calmly walked out of the room without a single glance back.

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**Author's Note – So, Nero and Kyrie have been caught by Pride Demons, in Demonic Hierarchy: there are Demons and then there are the Demon Clans, the Demon Clans are a race of the strongest Demons all looking similar, each referring to 8 Cardinal Sins and with Pride being the strongest – Sparda was a distant relative of a Pride Demon. If you want to find out what happens next, then review!**


	2. Rising Pride Arc: Phase 1

**Phase 1 – First Day on Hell Island**

**Disclaimer – I do not own anything related to Devil May Cry in this series, that right goes to CAPCOM. I do however own the Original Characters, Plot and ideas that make up this story. Enjoy!**

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**23rd December, 11:30am; Italy: Fortuna Island, Fortuna Fortress Town: Port Caerula, Nearby Cafe **

Fortuna was still the bustling centre of Anti-Demonic Activity as it always had been and Dante was surprised to be greeted by Credo as soon as he landed, apparently the General of the Holy Order of the Sword had awoken after he dissipated into light particles to find himself unconscious on an abandoned Island and despite the Demons on that Island he eventually managed to fight his way back to Fortuna, here he had been trying to rebuild the Order of the Sword in secret into a Demon Hunting Fighting Force similar to a private army of sorts. Credo had explained that the Mountains and the Forest Region had become a hive of Demons that were just waiting to flood out into the Fortress Town and that because of this the Order had been unable to regain control of its former base, instead they had turned the Spardian Church into their Temporary Headquarters and had recruited Scientists to look into the research left behind by Agnus prior to his death, despite being cautious it was Credo who believed that being a Demon-Human hybrid even if an artificial one would be advantageous in helping Humanity hold off the Devil's Collar.

"Any news on Nero and Kyrie?" asked Dante and Credo sighed sadly.

"Pride Demons had a hand in their capture, I've seen a Pride Demon before and they are fearsome beasts, they are the highest Demon Clan in the Demonic Hierarchy but not as individual as White Eyed Demons despite cutting it close in the strength competition" announced Credo as he bridged his fingers at the table they were sitting at "we haven't got the strength without the Ascension Ceremony to fight any Sin Clan Demons let alone the highest ranked Demonic Clan in their Hierarchy"

"You'll have to forgive Dante's…eccentricity, as far as I know, he's never even seen a Pride Demon nor been able to notice the difference in Demonic Ranks" dismissed Trish and Credo nodded.

"Its one of the training requirements for the Order of the Sword, even Nero is smarter than Dante" commented Michael from where he sat on a plant pot while ignoring the agitated glare being sent his way by Dante "ever heard the angelic saying: _'Know thy Enemy'_?"

"Why should I care, I just kill the bloody things" snarled Dante as he leaned back with crossed arms.

"But would it be so bad to know how to easily kill you're enemy over just randomly trying to beat them to pieces? Nero's like that when he looses his temper, other than that he is quite the Demonic gentleman, all things considering" snickered Trish as she stood "I'm going to look for some info on the Pride Demons' base of operations"

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**12:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Dining Room**

Nero glared at his jail guard again as Lilith elegantly paced into the room and sat down pleasantly on top of the Table, she smirked cruelly at the younger Devil before looking at her nails with her features stretched into utter boredom, Nero continued to glare at the first of humanity's traitors who sat there thinking with a bored expression on her face before standing again. She began to pace suddenly as if considering a course of action that she would eventually be taking and then came to a stop, Nero shuddered at the stomach boiling smirk on her face and the childish glimmer in the eyes of that inhumanly cold face, she started to pace towards the magical cage however stopped just before the magic circle so close that if there wasn't a disintegrating barrier there Nero would have grabbed her.

"Why do you keep calling out to the Son of Sparda, Dante isn't coming to save anyone anytime soon, he's too busy lacking the resources and information to deal with the small army of Pride Demons gathered in Fortuna" commented Lilith in a sing song voice "besides…you're mental calls are only being absorbed by the Barrier and since I created the Barrier they are therefore transmitted to me"

"I don't…" started Nero however Lilith cut in with a moment of astonishment.

"Or maybe you don't know that you're mentally calling out for you're precious Devil Hunter to save you, like a caged Canary doesn't know why it sings, denial is a dangerous think, Nero" announced Lilith calmly "do you have questions?"

"Why were both I and Kyrie captured?" asked Nero and Lilith sighed.

"In a Solstice Sacrifice regardless of what one or what Dark God the Human or Demon is sacrificing to, the sacrifice at its minimum regards two virgins, one of each gender" explained Lilith calmly "given you're looks, I'm surprised that you're favourite Demon Hunter hasn't deflowered you yet, maybe you're feelings for Kyrie are artificial"

"How could they be…" started Nero however Lilith held up a hand for silence.

"You're spirit was drawn to that Body when you were born is because you were close to a Holy Maiden, Kyrie is a Holy Maiden and they are an obsession to Demons: to be used or destroyed, why do you think Sanctus used her as the Brain of the Savior?" commented Lilith as she sat down cross-legged in front of Nero "you Lust after Kyrie and after all this time with what you both have been through you mistake it for Love, Kyrie knows not of her powers nor of the effect she has one every Demon around her, for Demons love can only be found from their Soulmates and she is not you're Soulmate but instead something for you to perverse"

"I…see" winced Nero as he looked at the floor blankly "but I still don't want her to die"

"You and she are necessary either way, to open the door we need two thinks and one of them is the Presence of the Maiden, once the Devil King rises we should be able to get the two of you scoot free from the Pride Demons" announced Lilith calmly as she stood calmly "time is ticking away"

"You seem to not like brining up the name of the Devil you're trying to raise" prodded Nero and Lilith sneered at the young Demon Hunter.

"Now that is a secret, boy" countered Lilith before walking out of the room.

"Dante…" wondered Nero as he sat down and placed his left hand in his right before relaxing his chin on his Devil Bringer, pondering about what the older Demon Hunter would do.

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**3:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Library **

Mysticus was unimpressed as the Fallen Angel looked about the collections of books that the Order had brought here and even some books caught his eye, specifically the ones Sparda had read late in his reign in Fortuna and Mysticus looked over a book of spells that Sparda had stolen from one of Mysticus' Scientists in Hell, the book seemed to be a Grimoire of lost knowledge and so Mysticus would borrow the book to update his Disciples in Hell. Mysticus had left Vergil to patrol the winter land wastes outside of the Castle that had reformed since Mysticus had rebuilt a Fake Hell Gate in the Courtyard and Demons were swarming out of it daily, Mysticus threw his black hair over his shoulder and paced towards a table where he could sit down, it was moments later that Lilith stepped into the room and crossed over to him before bowing.

"Lord Mysticus" bowed Lilith and Mysticus waved a hand to dismiss her actions "the boy is very receptive to the agreement, most of the Pride Demons are unknowing"

"Excellent, also be warned that Dante and Trish have arrived at Fortuna" announced Mysticus causing a surprised blink from Lilith "and Archangel Michael is with them"

"Great, not a bloody Angel but an Archangel, could our plan have any bigger of a loophole!" snarled Lilith as she glowered at the nearest wall, Mysticus glanced at a book with a bored expression, really not interested in the problem.

"Look at his, a book that speaks of our Devil King, it also seems to be a recording by Sparda what he knows of all Organisms he ran into in Hell and on Earth" dismissed Mysticus as he motioned towards an open book on the Table.

"The Song that the bloody Holy Maiden sings, it's about the Devil King?" questioned Lilith in disbelief as she kept reading.

_I have long since confirmed that I am a distant descended relative of the Pride Demon Clan ruling as the strongest beings in Hell besides the 'Old Ones' that have fought with Heaven long before the coming of Demons, the Ruler of this Clan is the Devil King and Patriarch of Sins: the High Devil known as Leviathan, less widely known as the Fallen Angel Hubris. _

_Leviathan or Hubris as he is truly known, is not a Monster like many humans believe but is instead a Fallen Angel therefore an 'Old One', a Major God of the Dark Empire's Hierarchy and potentially one of the three strongest beings in Hell. It was the Devil King who had Babel erected to be used as a tunnel to Heaven; it failed, being stricken down by God who sinned through his own Wrath and Pride leading to his self imposed banishment._

_Being a Fallen Angel, Hubris could destroy a Demon or Devil with very little effort due to his manipulation of his internal Light and therefore he should be looked upon as a Dark God by we Demons who do not belong in the Light, Hubris is the spark which created the Light that led the Rebellion from God all those centuries ago. _

_Even now as I sit in Fortuna Castle after years of leaving this document unfinished I have come to understand what Demons truly are: the descendents and pawns of the Fallen, the Fallen needed an Army to distract Heaven that could easily be replaced and so Human Souls that had damned were the best way to do so, why shouldn't Hubris defile the Souls of Humanity to make Soldiers when it was he who was against their creation in the beginning._

_- Brief Description of the Devil King: Leviathan, the Fallen Angel known as Hubris, by the Dark Knight Sparda._

"Fascinating" commented Lilith and Mysticus shrugged lightly.

"Keep pushing the younger Hunter, maybe I should visit him and give him some background information" commented Mysticus as he turned towards the doorway.

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**6:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Fortuna Fortress Town: Opera House, Credo's Temporary Office **

"So you turned the lock room for the former Hell Gate into an office for yourself, nice" commented Dante with a whistle as he looked around

The now useless magic liquid that had been seen in the room before had been mostly drained, the massive empty gaps had long since been covered over with Metal Plating though there were stairs as well as lighting leading underneath and at the centre of the full sized room was Credo's desk while all the walls but the back wall was covered in Book Cases, the back wall had a single bed leaned against it. It was obvious that the Order had intended to use the Liquid and this underground area as a Base for their Science Department however Credo had reverted the upper level into his Office, the truth was that the Order were losing their battle against the small army of Demons being led by the Pride Demons and people were starting to get hurt, it was taking longer than expected for the Scientists to reverse engineer the Ascension Ceremony and to perfect it into a way that would make those who went through it into Half Human-Demon Hybrids as inspired by Dante and Credo.

"Thank you, but for now we have to decide what our next move will be, we will need a day to get to and through the magical defences around Fortuna Castle" announced Credo with a annoyed sigh "I'll go with you however we can't take many, the Island is heavily under Demon Control and the remaining Order Knights are required to defend the populace, if we take too many men we'll be easily detected by the enemies within the Castle and for mission this delicate we have to be secretive"

"There being the possibility of a Hell Gate?" asked Trish and Credo nodded as he paced about in the Background.

"We can assume that there is someone within the Pride Clan that have the capabilities to create an Artificial Hell Gate superior to the one created by Agnus that doesn't require a Devil Arm to power it, I fear that if they keep springing up these Gates or if they perfect that Prototype then they will be swarming this Island with numbers alone" announced Credo and Trish suddenly smirked "what is it?"

"Oh, I made a bet with Lady awhile ago, we were betting on whether Dante's predictions about a major Demonic incursion in the future was true, all we need now is a Devil to rise and Lady will be owing me a hundred dollars" announced Trish with a grin before looking at Dante "for Devil May Cry, of course"

"The Sacrifice would be on the 25th so we better be in that Castle before the Midday of that day, we won't get another chance to save your boyfriend Dante or you're sister Credo, I can't help but feel that something hidden within the enemy is trying to rise something…massive" commented Dante and Trish glanced at the youngest son of Sparda as he sniffed at the air, using his Demonic senses to try to detect something through scent before shaking his head.

"Couldn't you sense anything?" questioned Credo causing both to look at him "there is so much that we don't understand on Hybrids, if we're going to make our soldiers into Human-Demon Hybrid Soldiers, we're going to need to know everything there is"

"I'll get Trish to write a manual or something" dismissed Dante with a wave "and no, there is too much increasing Demon Activity in the area for me to sense anything"

"And where is that Kid you came with, Michael, was it?" asked Credo and Dante shrugged.

"He is an Archangel of the Lord, I don't get in his way and he doesn't get in mine, I didn't really ask" shrugged Dante uncaringly.

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**8:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Fortuna Fortress Town: Cathedral, Evil Legacy's Pillar Area **

Michael yawned as he leaned against the Evil Legacy's Pillar while looking up towards the ceiling of the Cathedral, this place was so weird and irrelevant especially considering it was a place of worship which in itself was pointless, who in God's Name would pray to a Demon yet alone gather in groups to prey at all to the Divine Father. It wasn't like God listened to what his creations had to say nor was he in a position in Heaven to do so, a long time ago two towers were built: the Temen-ni-gru and the Tower of Babel, one was intended to bring armies of Demons to Earth while the other was designed for transport between Heaven and Earth. However in Humanity's Fallen Angel addled Pride they designed the tower off God's tower of Etemenaki which the Creator then went on to Sin as he struck down the Babel in Wrath, due to his sinful act the Divine banished himself from Heaven and had not been seen since, an irony within an irony.

"Michael" commented a Voice which Michael turned his head to look.

Before Michael stood a man with neck length blond hair and hard blue eyes which stared at the Archangel of Fire, the Man was dressed in Black Leather with a Black leather Coat over all of his outfit however the man didn't seem to mind the heat, the man seemed to be just under six feet tall and had an aura of calm and healing about him.

"Raphael" nodded Michael with a bored expression.

"How is your mission?" asked Raphael with a frown as he came closer to Michael before sitting on a chair in the front row, Michael stared at the Archangel of the Winds and Healing from where he sat.

"I thought Gabriel was the messenger" snorted Michael and Raphael smirked.

"But Gabriel quit Heaven, didn't he?" countered Raphael and Michael shrugged.

"Why are ya here, Raphael" asked Michael as he sat down on the floor.

"Are your predictions correct, Michael, about Hell's Forces?" questioned Raphael and Michael raised a disbelieving eyebrow "ever thought you were…wrong?"

"Hell is on the Move, what is happening here in Fortuna is evidence of this, ya could always join me down here" answered Michael and Raphael grunted.

"Only if you are proven correct" answered Raphael as a simple dismissal, there was the sound of wings fluttering and a strike of thunder, Michael received one last smile before the Blond Haired Angel teleported from the Material World.

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**11:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Dining Room**

Nero groaned as he sat up from his nap and looked around the room expecting Lilith to be here waiting for him but instead the room was empty, Nero was somewhat disappointed and bored without someone to talk to however this wouldn't break him no matter how hard they tried, Nero moved to lie back down when the double doors slammed open and a man with long black hair walked in carrying a staff.

"I am Mysticus, I come to inform you that with an open Hell Gate, there is no way you can escape the unlimited might that the Pride Demons have at their disposal" announced Mysticus as he stopped before Nero's Devil trap.

"Oh yeah, what should I care?" countered Nero however he was suddenly went slamming backwards into the shield which burned down to the skin of his upper back, next he was sent into the front of the shield and eventually into the room of the shield, by the end of it his wounds were healing as he lay quivering on his right side burned naked from waist up.

"You should care because it would be your best interests to make an attack on the Hell Gate, tomorrow and Yamato can break the seals on your cage, as for you catching a cold out there…I could care less" explained Mysticus as he walked towards the double doors "maybe it will teach you to learn some manners"

Nero didn't answer as he lay there quivering from the shock his body was recovering from, that thing beyond a Demon…that Monster had taken a sick pleasure in his pain and agony, taking no steps to comfort the youth nor repair the injuries inflicted while instead awaiting for Nero's own demonic blood to heal himself. Nero noted that the one known as Mysticus looked and acted humanoid however something must have made him brutal, most lesser Demons ran away with their instincts and Higher sentient Demons were brought up as warriors however that man was as calm as a Human, having very little blood lust in him so what could have happened in that man's past to make him develop such a cruel way of helping a person?

* * *

**Author's Note – And that is the end of that Chapter, so you all know something that Nero doesn't know, the "Devil King" they want his help summoning is the very thing that Dante and Co are trying to stop – regardless if its Summoning that Satan or Sacrificing to it. **

**Now I have a vital question that hopefully someone can guess, what is Hubris mean and why did God name the Angel Hubris when he was created? Review and Answer the Question, for me to continue!**


	3. Rising Pride Arc: Phase 2

**Phase 2 – Yamato's Master**

**Disclaimer – I'm sure you know the drill by now.**

* * *

**24****th**** December, 5:30am; Italy: Fortuna Island, Fortuna Fortress Town: Opera House, Credo's Temporary Office **

Dante scowled at the gathered men in Credo's Office and judged them all one at a time seeking what they were strong at, there were a group of four hired Human Demon Hunters that Credo had hastily hired on the Order of the Sword's budget to get into Fortuna Castle, they would be the only reinforcements that would be taken in with them and Trish would be the one to lead them. Credo would be going with Michael and Dante through a direct approach while Trish led the men down into the Castle's Cellars by use of a quick underground passage, their objective was to locate Nero and Kyrie before moving on to stop whatever was being done within the Castle.

"So, we're all agreed that we'll be taking the longer route into the Castle, there is an old path around the Mountain and into Mitis Forest" announced Credo from where he sat behind the desk "we will head into the Aqueducts leading underground from the Castle and split halfway down, my team will climb the base of the cliff while Trish's Team will continue on through the Aqueducts until they reach the Castle's Cellars, the Demons will be less likely to expect attack from two different directions"

"A plan fit for the Heavenly Host" muttered Michael sarcastically and Credo glared at the smaller man.

"Dante, can I talk to you, outside?" asked Credo and Dante shrugged lightly as he followed the white clad man out of the room.

* * *

**6:00am; Italy: Fortuna Island, Fortuna Fortress Town: Opera House, Courtyard**

"There are questions I need answering" announced Credo as be paced through the empty Courtyard with Dante following close behind "who is that Michael?"

"Archangel of God and anything else you can think up from that human perverse book of God" answered Dante as he leaned against the fountain and laughed at Credo's surprised expression "I know! Looks nothing like the Golden Haired Angel that the Bible describes, does he?"

"What about you, you are more serious then the last time we met" commented Credo and Dante sighed lightly.

"Let's just say that, a life of Devil Hunting coupled with a Year in Hell which is like a Hundred Years in their time, it changes a person – they become more…unstable or random" shrugged Dante from where he sat before his cleanly shaven chin soon dropped to his chest "Hell or rather if you prefer the Demon World is an intolerable place, legends go that the Fallen Angel Lucifer fused his original body with Hell to make it more inhabitable and that has done a lot to improve it so I doubt I'd want to experience what it was like before, however the things going on in Hell…there is a reason that it's a Pit of Despair – no wonder Demons and such want to come here instead"

"What happens to people who have been…damned to Hell?" asked Credo and Dante gave an exasperated sigh.

"They are put on the racks and tortured until they lose their Humanity, which is what Hell is: a breaking, Humans who lose their Humanity devolve into Demons and the Demon Lilith was the first ever Human to become a Demon through similar means" answered Dante while trailing a finger through the water "the racks are on the 6th Layer of Hell: Hametsu or in English it is known simply as 'Ruin', the Layer lower than that is the Capital Layer of the Dark Empire: Sheol, there is where Lucifer and the high ranked Devils are located"

"And you never got to that Layer?" questioned Credo and Dante laughed.

"I never even got access to Hametsu, Sheol and Hametsu are the most important Layers in the Dark Empire, it's their Political and Military Centre – Hametsu being naught more than a forced conscription camp, the Layers above Hametsu is fought over by lesser Demons seeking territory" answered Dante before looking up "so, what do these Pride Demons look like?"

"Big Purple Monstrosities that look like 9 foot humanoids with a lion's head…" started Credo before Dante cut him off.

"I ran into something like that in Hell, I fought one and his strongest Punch felt like being punched by the Savior, I think we thought to a stand-still but I can't be sure because when I awoke it was gone" shrugged Dante and Credo gasped "I'm sure that they are weaker in the Human World – forced to possess Human Bodies"

"It's a shame that Demons have to resort to human meat shields to actually have any strength here" sighed Credo before nudging his head back towards the Opera House, Dante soon followed Credo inside.

* * *

**12:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Dining Room**

Lilith was horrified when she arrived at Midday on the day before the Sacrifice and Ritual to find the mutated descendent of Sparda's blood missing, how could the lad containing blood of a Demon and the soul related to a Fallen Angel escape a Devil's Trap that was reinforced with Angel sealing Enochian Runes, she got her answer a moment later when she noticed the giant slice through two of the lines and an Enochian Rune.

"Yamato!" snarled Lilith as she marched out of the room, slamming the doors behind her, not noticing Mysticus leaning against the wall down the small corridor from the Dining Room.

"Wonderful, this is perfect" smirked Mysticus before glaring at Vergil who stood in the shadows further along the corridor "you know what to do with the boy"

"Of course" bowed Vergil before disappearing in Blue Flames.

* * *

**12:30pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Courtyard**

Nero cautiously slipped through the doorway leading into the courtyard and shuddered as the cold air touched his naked chest, the rebuilt Hell Gate glowed ominously on the other side of the yard yet Nero wondered if Hell Gates had 'breaks' from spewing out Demons, if so then this Hell Gate was in its resting stage or was probably gathering more Demons on the other side of the portal to let loose on the unfortunate Island. Nero only just noticed a somewhat familiar figure standing in the middle of the Courtyard with closed eyes and a scowl, a sheathed Katana was held by the handle with the base of the sheath being planted against the ground and showy silver hair spiked up, if the hair were flattened the man would have a similarity to Nero or more so to Dante and Nero decided caution would be necessary as he approached.

"I've been expecting you, I'm Vergil, you've heard of me from Dante" announced Vergil as he opened his eyes "eternity is on a rather tight deadline now, therefore I will be getting straight to the point rather than make small talk, we need your blood and Yamato"

"Why not use your own, you're Dante's brother, shouldn't you use undiluted blood?" questioned Nero as he looked about for a way to escape the Eldest son of Sparda who calmly paced forwards.

"We need blood that is perverse by Pride and Deprive, the only factor that could alter blood is Anima or 'the Spirit', you have that spirit" answered Vergil as he drew Zamato "now hand over Yamato and allow me to bathe the blade in blood, then you can go back to your cage like a good little boy"

"Not happening" growled Nero as he dropped low and prepared for the first attack by the Older son of Sparda as the spiked Silverette continued to approach "it's not too late you know, like Dante you can hunt Demons instead of serving them"

"When it comes to twins, there are a good twin and a bad twin, if Dante's the good twin guess who is the bad one?" snarled Vergil as he slashed down at Nero.

Nero rolled out of the way as Zamato descended and swung Yamato at the older blood relation of Sparda, Vergil however caught Yamato in his free hand and once again slashed out with Zamato causing Nero to let go of Yamato's handle which Vergil flipped into the air, Nero jumped back to avoid the blow that the younger Devil Hunter would have otherwise been skewered upon. Vergil sneered as he put away Zamato and raised his hand to which Yamato fell into from its fall, Vergil charged and flipped around Nero's Devil Bringer as it struck out and instead kicked the side of the passing arm of Light causing Nero to fall off Balance, Nero could only cry out when Yamato stabbed through his right hand and with a few muttered words in an ancient language the blood from the Devil Bringer coated the blade entirely before crystallising.

"You are unworthy of being my Opponent" grunted Vergil as he stabbed Blue Summoned Swords which stabbed into Nero's limbs thus pinning him down "Pride Demons shall be along shortly to escort you back to your Cell"

Nero could only groan as he lay there with cold air running across his skin and blue flames rippling in his vision as Vergil teleported away, to add to Nero's bad luck it was now practically snowing on him and the Hell Gate was starting to glow ominously, Nero hoped that when his Guards arrived they arrived before whatever hungry Demons were waiting beyond that Gate decided to appear.

"Foolish boy" muttered Lilith as she appeared out of nowhere "you shouldn't have tried to escape"

"Funny, because it was your boss who egged me on" countered Nero and Lilith froze suddenly.

"Lord Mysticus did what?" pondered Lilith as she crossed her arms "unless…there was a logical reason, I guess I'll find out soon enough, but you are annoying and so…you're not as necessary as one would wish"

Lilith pulled the Summoned Sword out of Nero's right shoulder causing the youth to cry out and she sneered as she raised the blade up ready to stab down into his heart, Nero gave a yell and suddenly the Summoned Sword such in his Devil Bringer cam free which he raised that hand over his chest in hopes of defending himself, the Devil Bringer grabbed the descending Summoned Sword and Lilith scowled but that wasn't all. Suddenly the Devil Bringer radiated a White Light as the remaining power left behind by Yamato and a shard of Vergil's Soul dissipated, Lilith was surprised by this turn of events since even before being infected by Virgil's Soul years prior it had a sulphur like colour to the present-day blue and the blue colour had only darkened once Nero had gained Yamato, suddenly Nero suddenly exploded in this White Light and Lilith could only yell as she was dismissed to Hell as the glow burned her off the Earth – Nero long before had lost conscience.

* * *

**8:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Library**

Mysticus relaxed behind the desk and waved away the Pride Demon that had finished his report to the Original Devil, so Nero had finally been captured however what interested Mysticus was not only had Lilith needed to have been summoned anew from Hell but around the youth had been a puddle of burnt ground that snow melted on the moment it landed, Mysticus bridged his fingers as he considered the type of Demon that could do such a bright and powerful light or rather the lack of Demon that could produce such a light. White Eyed Demons could produce a similar light but to a well trained eye their light was noticed to be flawed, naught more than a dull pale grey compared to the searing silver light that he had witnessed from the walls today, the Silver light that had enveloped the youth was too dark to be that of a Lesser Angel or a Archangel and too powerful also to be just a regular Angel anyway, then could it be that the Soul within Nero's body was not that of a being perverted by their own Pride and Deprivation but rather an offspring of the two representing Fallen Angels?

Mysticus required more research on the boy before he made such assumptions but the idea that Hubris and Privo had a Fallen Angel Child, that hadn't gained its own body because it was drawn into a newly born Part-Human Host from the call of an untrained Holy Maiden, kept coming from the back of his mind to the forethought of his own thoughts and if possible Mysticus knew that the boy could be an advantage to their Army. Regardless however much the idea sounded wonderful he had to state facts, Sorath was waiting to raise his Father from Hell and it was best not to cause the Anti-Christ himself to wait too long, they had a war to carry out after all and they needed to find God – to hold him accountable for his actions.

"Mysticus!" snarled Lilith as she marched into the Library and Mysticus raised his hand to her causing her to freeze, a silver glow flashing across the surface of his hand.

"Take a breath and calm down, find your manners, otherwise I'll finish what the boy started earlier today" growled Mysticus and Lilith paused for a moment before pacing forward calmly so that she was standing across the desk from the Original Devil "better, now what is it you wanted to ask of me?"

"That Boy holds a power that no Demon does and I am insinuating that you knew all along" complained Lilith and Mysticus raised an eyebrow.

"All I saw was the difference in the state of his Soul while you saw a little boy, Blood carries traces of the Soul hence Blood Magic is capable, his blood therefore is unique due to not only being of Pride Demon descent but being perverted by his Soul which contains both Pride and Deprivation" explained Mysticus with bridged fingers "however I have no evidence prior to what happened earlier today that the boy could be a risk, he will be brought before Lord Hubris and we will judge whether my assumptions are correct, if they are then your attempt at murdering the boy will be the death of you before Hell's Grand Judge"

"Is the ritual that far ahead?" questioned Lilith with a worried look on her face.

"Yes and Lord Hubris has prepared preparations on his side, he is most displeased with your efforts" growled Mysticus and Lilith knew that she had very few choices left.

"We'll give all our efforts" announced Lilith and Mysticus glowered darkly.

"I hope so, Demon Queen, for your sake" scowled Mysticus as he stood and walked towards a bookcase "Lord Hubris, the Grand Judge of Hell, is not as tolerant nor as forgiving as I am"

* * *

**25****th**** December, 9:00am; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, B1**

Trish paced back and forth as she wondered where Dante's Team were, they should have arrived by now for lack of a better issue and she had been here since earlier this morning, the number of Demons gathering at this Castle meant something and Trish knew that the Private towers of the Castle would be swarming with Pride Demons who required to rest their hosts. Pride Demons were so powerful that too much strain on their Hosts would cause them to eventually combust and so it was wise that the Pride Demons allowed their Hosts to rest, but that wasn't half as bad as when the Satan of Pride appeared in this world and it therefore became unnecessary for the Pride Demons to remain in their hosts, they would burn themselves out killing the dormant Humans they are wearing and either taking on their own Humanoid form or for weaker Pride Demons their original Demonic forms.

"They are taking too long" complained Alahando as the leading hired Devil Hunter leaned against a nearby barrel.

"We're waiting for them, we go up there and none of us are coming back" countered Trish and Alahando raised a hand as though warding off the blond Demon Hunter.

"Alright, we wait" grunted Alahando however as he said those words Dante slipped through a small window in the side of the Basement.

"God Damn it, that bloody small window is the only opening in their Dark Magic Nexus, it's like squeezing through a port hole" complained Michael as he soon followed Dante and Credo in his Demonic form soon after.

"Give me a report, how bad are things?" questioned Credo calmly as he paced towards the hired Devil Hunters, who on contract for the Order of the Sword, saluted.

"Demons have been gathering more and more by the day, we have confirmed by listening in on a Demon patrol that went by earlier, that they plan to use the Hell Gate in a ritual to shatter the Veil" announced Alahando and Credo nodded with a frown.

"What does that mean?" asked Dante and Michael sighed.

"It means that they are gonna shatter an invisible shield between this area in time and space, the Barrier separates Assiah from other planes of existence and stops intrusion from Spirits or Demons, if they break it then Demons will swarm through the Gap into this Area"

"So, Demonic invasion of the scale that a Devil or Devils would use to enter our world, definitely a Demonic Crisis as you predicted Dante" commented Trish with her arms crossed "oh, Lady owes me money, never thought I'd see the day"

"To me, your both Money grabbing Bitches" shrugged Dante however Credo glared at the causing them to fall into silence.

"What is the Plan, Michael?" questioned Credo as he looked at the Archangel who shrugged.

"We need ta get up there before they start that Ritual, failing that we have ta end it before it reaches such a point where it will release a Global-wide Holocaust, that is what the Higher Ups are worrying about between their plotting of their Rivals' political self-destruction" shrugged Michael as he slipped a lower arm long blade from his pants "failing everything, this Shortsword is an Archangel Blade, it can kill practically anything – Archangel or Devil. I'm gonna have to use it, regardless of Leviathan rising or not, it'll take two Archangels to put him down even with one of these Blades"

"Alright, so we storm the Castle and find Nero, then we stop the Ritual! Sounds like a plan" decided Dante with a large, fake grin on his face.

"If only it where that easy" sighed Credo but motioned for his Hired Hunters to take point all the same.

* * *

**Author's Note – And Nero gets his ass kicked by Yamato's True Wielder, just know that he is never getting Yamato back – ever, with enough support I may think up a similar blade for him to have in…compensation. For that I require ideas also, so review.**

**New Question…what Satan is the lover of Hubris? Anyone who has been paying attention would know. **


	4. Rising Pride Arc: Finale

**Phase 3 – The Proud Fallen Angel, Hubris **

**Disclaimer – I'm sure everyone knows the Disclaimer by this point, uh.**

* * *

**12:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, East Wing: Nero's Private Chambers, Bedroom**

Nero was surprised as he sat up in a fluffy bed after being poked and prodded all week and looked around the room, the room or rather the massive halls that made up these Private Chambers and glowered when he saw Lilith sitting in an armchair outside a shield wall, the smirk on her face was ticking Nero off but he knew that trying to storm her through that barrier would be wasting energy he could use on her later.

"Lord Mysticus sent me to make sure that you were somewhat unharmed, we need to alive to witness the Ritual later today" sneered Lilith as she looked at a book "rumours are we're expecting guests in the Castle, of the Demon Hunting kind but no matter, they won't get far"

"You seem to always underestimate your enemies" countered Nero and Lilith glared at him.

"Only those who are irrelevant to the present plan" answered a slick voice and a man with long blond hair walked in carrying a double sided staff in his right hand, something about him seemed familiar as the spiked haired man glanced at him.

"Don't alarmed, this is still Lord Mysticus, he has simply shown his true form – his Transient High Angel form" announced Lilith and Nero froze, true the armour that the man was wearing was demonic despite being Golden and the same coldness seen from Mysticus glowered from his eyes, but Nero still found it hard to believe that the man before him was Mysticus.

"Why be so surprised, I am a Fallen Angel, after all" dismissed Mysticus with a bored expression.

"I'll go revert to my true form also" announced Lilith as she stood and with a wave left the room.

"What is she, a Fallen Angel too?" scowled Nero with a raised eyebrow.

"She is the literal first Demon however not the metaphorical, the original 'Demons' were actually a more Beastly persona that we Angels have, our desire to mate and fight – to claim what is predetermined as ours and to win victories, to gain allies and power" answered Mysticus calmly as he sat down the seat that Lilith had vacated "like you we Angels have a de facto Demon Side but the calmness of a Sensible Being – originally 'Demon Sides' were designated as our power, our desire and our…instinct, hmm how I could sum all that up?"

"What is surprising is people think that Angels are supposed to be _'_Greater and thou' beings" prodded Nero with a smirk.

"You say that yet God demanded that we 'bow down to humans' and look how that turned out in the end" countered Mysticus with a shrug "regardless, you are required at the Ritual tonight, I have foreseen it"

"Do you follow everything that you see?" sneered Nero and Mysticus shrugged uncaringly.

"Djibril will soon arrive on Earth and Hubris will rise, then there will be a clash of High Ranked Angels whom are often mistaken for two Pagan Gods, the Gods of Harmony and Discord" laughed Mysticus as he stood and glanced at his staff "by merely being on this world, Hubris will start the End War even without the other Pieces being on the board, Discord will rule all!"

"But I'm sure Dante will slay your Devil before he becomes a problem" dismissed Nero cockily and Mysticus smirked cruelly.

"No Demon can stand up to an Original Devil, Lord Hubris will destroy him and anyone else before they can try" countered Mysticus as he stepped towards the doorway with a resolute look on his face "even a Fallen Angel is powerful enough to destroy a Demon with ease, Lord Hubris is roughly equivalent of Archangel Rank, Archangels were God's most effective weapons"

* * *

**6:30pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, East Wing: Gardens**

Dante completely hated this Castle and the grandness that had been taken in building the bloody thing, how in Yehovah and Lucifer's names had his father lived in this place while at the same time Dante sure saw the luxuries of such a beautiful place, or rather what he assumed would be beautiful if the Hell Gate wasn't causing a unnatural winter to spread across these lands. So far, Dante and his companions had run into very few High ranked Demons with only Demons strong enough to slow them down even making an effort, Dante felt that the past groups of Blitz and Frosts were stalling for something which Michael confirmed – time was running out. The Demons were well on their way with their preparations and every now and then Dante witnesses a powerful aura sweeping through Castle, someone was transferring a lot of their energy and effort into the Grand Hall where Dante assumed the summoning was being carried out, the only reason that Dante was over in the East Wing at all was because Nero was _here_ – in that part of the Castle.

"Dante, get down" demanded Michael as he dragged the Demon Hunter to his knees just as Javelins of Ice soared over his head, a Frost dropped down however before Dante could even draw Rebellion, Michael had intercepted the Demon and stabbed it on his Archangel Blade causing a chain of light to skim up and down the Demon's insides before it collapsed dead.

"Thanks Mike, been a little distracted" grunted Dante as he got to his feet while Michael glared at the Demon Hunter as the sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the area.

"We're running out of time, Dante" complained Michael as the Dagger-like Archangel Blade slipped back up his sleeve "the last weaves of the Veil are shattering one after the other, once the Veil has weakened enough they'll proceed to the final stages of the Ritual, we can't let that happen"

"We need to pick someone up first, got what Nero left behind?" asked Dante as he turned to Credo who held up an Order of the Sword Case "good"

* * *

**7:30pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Near Castle Entrance: Entrance Hall, Lower Level**

"It's time, begin the Original Devil Ritual, it is time we awaken an Original Devil from Hell" smirked Lilith, her original form seemed to be of a middle aged woman with black Angelic wings.

"Yes, now all of you…" turned Mysticus as he faced the gathered ten Pride Demons and countless other types of Demons "repeat after me"

"_I hereby invoke the Prince of Darkness,_

_The great Dragon of the bottomless pit_

_Who is the Bringer of Light_

_And Lord of the Earth._

_Hear me, o mighty God of Hell!_

_Come forth from the black Abyss,_

_Come forth from the ends of the Earth,_

_Come forth from the night-time sky!_

_Great Tiamat, Apophis, Ahriman, Typhon!_

_Leviathan, Azazel, Belial, Samael!_

_Satan, Lucifer, SET!_

_My Lord and Master, come forth from Hell_

_And greet me as Your servant and friend._

_Join me as I conduct this service in Your honour_

_Out of love and thankfulness for You._

_Amen!"_

The effects of this Magical Chant was instantaneous as the candles in the room suddenly flickered out only for a Purple Flame to appear in their places while Kyrie's blood leapt out of a Jar to form into a demonic magic circle which dried as suddenly as it took form, Mysticus smirked lightly as he paced to the back of the room and lifted the blood covered Yamato while muttering words in ancient Enochian causing Angelic runes to appear down the blade, he paced over to a specific rune on the Magic Circle and stabbed down, the blade getting stuck in the rune which only then did the frozen blood replicate and flow off the blade…

* * *

**7:40pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, East Wing: Nero's Private Chambers, Bedroom**

Nero groaned as he stood off the bed and crossed over to the window from where he looked down at the hurricane of Demons swarming through the gaps in the Veil, Demons could now enter this world in mass without requiring special trinkets like the Temen-ni-gru or the Hell Gates, the Fake Hell Gate in this area had been specially customised it seemed to be elusive to its true purpose; it summoned Demons from Hell to hide the fact that it could shatter the Veil and cause Demons to flood onto the Earth with ease. Nero's Human body was tense and fearful for the Human race at this point however his Demon Half was…excited, whatever was being summoned in the Castle's Grand Hall was not only familiar to Nero's Demonic Instincts but also exciting, Nero was tempted to question his Demon Side's Sanity since the thing that was being summoned had no love for Humans whatsoever.

"Nero!" shouted a familiar Voice and Nero moved to the opposite side of the wall quickly as his door was kicked off its hinges, Nero was more shocked by the fact that Dante was the one who had kicked the door.

"Dante, don't!" shouted Nero and Dante stopped when he got the message, looking down he noticed the Magic Lines that were caging the Demon Hunter, Michael snatched Rebellion off Dante's back and sliced through the lines calmly with a bored frown.

"An Enochian Devil Trap, usually it's used for Powerful Devils, Fallen Angels or Original Devils" commented Michael as he read the surviving runes "not a bad piece of work, either"

"I'm flattered, Shorty" sneered Nero and Michael's eyes glowed darkly.

Before Nero could even raise a finger he was punched so hard by Michael he went clean through the wall and into the bathroom, Michael went after him where he grabbed Nero's leg and slammed him against the undamaged part of the wall sending Nero clean through the wall again, finally Michael caught Nero with a punch to the jaw sending him flying onto the bed. Nero rolled off the four poster bed with a yell as the four posts collapsed down on him, Michael moved to continue his hunt however Dante stretched out his hand to stop the Archangel from continuing after the Demon Hunter, the Archangel obliging as he came to a stop before we went past the Devil Hunter's arm.

"I think an introduction is in order, this is Michael – Fire Archangel of the Lord and Leader of the Heavenly Hosts, he doesn't like people talking about his size" commented Dante while nudging his head for Credo to approach.

"Credo…" started Nero surprised to see his adopted Brother alive.

"Kyrie is here, Nero, Michael thinks she is being held in the Main Hall where the Ritual is taking place however there are thousands of Demons between us and her, we need your help getting in there" announced Credo as he undid the latches on the Order of the Sword Case before sending it spinning in Nero's direction, it opened to reveal the parts of the Red Queen and Blue Rose.

"I don't have Yamato anymore, Vergil took it" commented Nero however he did pull the open Order of the Sword Case to get to work on preparing his weapons.

"So, Vergil isn't only alive but he's here" pondered Dante while glancing at Trish out of the corner of his eye who had winced "I assume you knew all along, yet you forget to tell me that bit of information, Trish?"

"We thought the knowledge would lower your combat capabilities" dismissed Michael with a serious expression "now if you would all hurry up, we have a Ritual to stop"

"The Ringleaders that I know of are Mysticus and Lilith" announced Nero and Michael frowned.

"Great, good old sibling showdown, I bet he's as pleased as the rest of them about me having them kicked out of Heaven – Mysticus is the type to plot a Fucking Apocalypse" groaned Michael as he looked out the window "we're just about to run out of time, business is beckoning, if Hubris rises then the dominoes will really start falling"

"Are you sure you can kill Hubris if it comes to that?" questioned Credo and Michael frowned at the Order Knight "you seemed rather emotional when talking about him"

"He was the only little brother who treated me as the younger, not because of my size, but because he was the closest genetic relative other than Lucifer willing to give a crap" growled Michael as he glared at Credo "it wasn't because he was an older Angel since I was older than him, its just that I never had a proper older brother despite having one, I'm sure you can understand that better than anyone Dante"

* * *

**8:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Near Castle Entrance: Entrance Hall, Lower Level**

Mysticus waited with a smile on his face as the blood from the sword curled inwards until it ended in the shape of a roof doorway belonging to Ancient Hanging Jail Cells, Mysticus looked at his staff as he awaited his guests arrival with pride blossoming in his chest or rather maybe that was the side effect of Hubris' Astral Energy slipping through the Veil to this place, the summoning was too far ahead now and so Mysticus doubted that anyone would be able to stop him now. Michael was too deprived of his twin to have much effectiveness and that gave Mysticus the advantage, Mysticus never had the experience of an Angelic Twin which meant that he never needed to rely on anyone, Michael however had always relied on Lucifer and without the Archangel Leader it came down to Michael starving himself of restoration.

Everything was set up for the grand finale and Mysticus smiled as the guests of honour entered the room, with a flick of his wrist he sent Michael and his pawns onto Church Benches that had been laid out especially for spectators, Lilith stood on the Balcony above while enforcing Mysticus' hold on them as he turned his attention back to the Ritual. If Mysticus didn't deliver soon then the Pride Demons would start killing Virgins in Demonic Sacrifice again, as though that get them any closer to raising their Dark God and Hubris got nothing out of Human Sacrifices since he wasn't here to observe participation, buttering ones love for their father was one thing but doing so without the father watching was wasteful of one's efforts and resources.

"Now, lets get underway, I want you all to see this" smirked Mysticus as he looked at the gathered loyal Demons "now repeat after me. We offer up our lives, blood, souls…"

"We offer up our lives, blood, souls…" repeated the Gathered Loyal Demons.

"To complete this tribute" finished Mysticus as he pointed his staff at the gathered Demons with a smirk.

"To complete this tribute" finished the Gathered Loyal Demons, a sudden golden glow skimmed their insides as though they were stabbed by an Archangel Blade, Trish glared at Mysticus from the cruel misuse of her own kind.

"What? They're just Demons" countered Mysticus with a shrug "since the Countdown to Hubris' rising has started I think we have time for Question Time"

"Where are the people that you have kidnapped!" questioned Credo and Mysticus smirked at the Artificial Half-breed.

"Your sister is sitting over there, as for the kidnapped Fortuna Citizens, well…" shrugged Mysticus as he indicated towards a pile of bones with an uncaring smile on his face "I know, it's awful, but the Seals placed on these Satans are so demanding. So it was women and children first. I know what you must think of me, Dante. But I have to do this. I have to. You of all people should understand"

"Oh, how do you plot that course?" growled Dante and Mysticus smirked.

"Like you, I had a father who pretended to care about his own sons but really he was a self centred jerk that caused the oldest Members of my Family to turn dark side including myself, sound familiar? Yehovah and Sparda are two similar individuals, the only difference is there power bandwidth and the size of their Egos, as I'm sure your learning" sneered Mysticus and with a flick of his finger he sent Dante flying against a wall "note the power difference between Demons and Angels, between Fallen Angels and scummy human half-breeds like you, what does that tell you!"

Suddenly and explosion occurred sending Dante to the floor as Mysticus turned to face the Ritual Circle with a smile, the blood was pulling the floor apart and in the sinkhole that appeared was a pillar of light that was raising into the Heavens – burning through anything in its path, Michael and Mysticus seemed unaffected however everyone else were either covering their eyes and/or holding their ears, trying to ward off the bright light or the intense sound of static that was growing as the light also intensified. Suddenly the light and the high pitched noise became all consuming and nothing could be seen or heard, in the Light a shadow had taken form and it was from the part of that shadow that looked like a chest where the light was located at, suddenly all the Light retracted into the being leaving a young man floating over a lava filled hole.

The Young Man's hair was long and black, he wore Middle Age shirt and boots probably from sea farers from a long time ago, his clothing was different shades of grey – lighter the lower that one looked. The Man opened his eyes to reveal brown-red eyes that glowed light purple in the light, the flames from the candles gave a shine to his hair making it look white from where the ebony hair shined while reflecting the light, held in his left hand was a sheathed Katana which seemed kind of off out of the man's look. As if sensing Nero's awe and wonder, the being turned and looked at him before carefully landing on the now solid ground where he looked over at Credo's Demon Hunters with a look of disgust and distain, Fallen Angels didn't fall from Heaven without sinning in Pride and as the Satan of Pride then the one before him must have despised humanity as much as Lucifer.

"Lord Hubris" bowed Mysticus with a smirk and the man turned to look at the blond haired minion before him as Demons swarmed onto the balconies of the Hall.

"Mysticus, it is a wonderful day that you have allowed me to come to Earth, but now we must move onto Stage Two of the plan" announced Hubris and Mysticus paled.

"Yes well, uh…" started Mysticus with a confused frown "we only had enough resources and power to raise you, my Lord, we don't have enough strength for another summoning"

"Regardless, we must evacuate this area before Djibril catches wind that I have risen, my powers are…exhausted" complained Hubris with a frown "they were not used to the travel, Inter-Dimensional Jetlag, we'll call it"

"Forgive me, since you never became one of the Seven Archangels you had no leave to come and go from Earth more often, the only time otherwise since you travelled to another Level of Existence is when Sparda had you sealed away from Assiah" commented Mysticus as he looked at his staff "also, we have Sparda's son here, as well as a Divine Maiden"

"Do you now?" questioned Hubris with a smile, he lazily walked past the chair that Kyrie was sitting on before emotionlessly lashing out and grabbing her upper face with his hand, a purple light blazed out of his palm before Kyrie went limp.

Before Hubris could move to leave however a massive light shined down from above which then took the form of a female in showing armour and long blue hair, she had crimson eyes and glowered at Hubris who gave a tired sigh of annoyance, it seemed that the Demi-Goddess of Harmony had finally arrived. An Archangel Blade appeared on the right lower arm armour of the Female Archangel who charged at Hubris, Hubris deflected her strike on the Satan Blade that had appeared from literally up his sleeve and he kicked her in the stomach sending her flying across the room with a grunt, Hubris flew up into the air and evaded the next attack that she launched at the Fallen Archangel Initiate who groaned in annoyance but winced when the Archangel Blade sliced across his arm.

Nero gave a yell as he grabbed the same arm that the Archangel had also had sliced on and Hubris frowned down at the youth, a glowing line of gold similar to the slash crossed across his arm at the same location on Hubris' arm, with a sudden growl Hubris flipped his hand sending a bench on the floor slamming into the side of Djibril which the Archangel landed on her feet with a frown on her face. Hubris wondered what she was staring at and noticed that her Archangel Blade was stabbed into his right chest – looks like this time God and Luck was both on his side for once, with a growl he drew out the Archangel Blade and glanced at Nero who had fainted from the replicated shadow injury, but why was that happening at all?

"My Lord" shouted Mysticus as he raised his staff, a portal of dark energy appeared and despite Hubris' attempts, he was pulled into it.

"Return him" growled Djibril as he glowered at Mysticus "or I will purge your sinful existence from this world, Mysticus. No one screws over an Archangel ranked Angel but another Archangel!"

"Sorry, Lady Djibril, but I've put your dear brother in a place in which he can recover" announced Mysticus as he opened a portal behind himself "I will allow you to fight your brother, Older Sister, but only on a fair and equal battlefield – when Lord Hubris gets used to being in Assiah then I will allow the two of you to beat on each other as much as you like"

Djibril sent a wave of white energy out in an attempt to destroy Mysticus' portal to safety and succeeded, however this was a ruse as Mysticus then teleported away and with Djibril distracted she couldn't track his target location, with a growl she turned her eyes on the remaining gathered Demons in the room however they had fled the building with Lilith the moment that Hubris had been forced through that portal. She turned to look at Dante and Michael to see Raphael kneeling beside an injured Nero, she frowned when she remembered what happened earlier and sensed Nero's aura for what could have been the cause, Nero couldn't be a doppelganger since his aura was slightly different to Hubris' which made her think up other possible outcomes as she descended towards the group.

"You know, Ralph, you could have intervened sooner" complained Michael as he glowered at his sibling Archangel.

"You have no idea what juggling I've been doing in Heaven, the Politicians are not happy that you came down here for no evident reason, if Mysticus was a Archangel then your reason would be understandable but he wasn't so you technically broke the rules by getting involved" countered Raphael calmly "they are only giving you a loophole now because Hubris had risen, if you had stopped his rising or if it hadn't occurred, you would have been cast into Hell as a Fallen Angel – a traitor disobeying High Ranked Orders"

"But…" started Michael however Djibril cut him off.

"Ever since Sparda sealed away the Fallen Angels from Assiah, we agreed to not release any Angel to Earth unless on a mission for the risk that they would 'like what they saw' and fell, because of their own Sins" added Djibril suddenly "you are just unlucky Mysticus succeeded, otherwise you'd be screwing your twin brother in Hell and getting on with Hubris again like old friends"

"Djibril!" snarled Raphael however before he could finish Michael had teleported away "you know about Angelic Twins, especially Seraphita Project Twins!"

"Adam Kadamon was the first Seraphita and the First Angel designed after God's True Form, he was cloned and his clones were taken apart to become the First Generation of Angels, however among them were those born from God's pet project – the Splitting the Seraphita Project. It created twins: Alexiel and Rosiel, Yahweh and Samael – a unique pair of Eight Winged God-type Angels born from dividing a combination of a God Doppelganger and two Adam Kadamon Clones, Lucifer and Michael" pondered Djibril aloud with a coy smile "then there was the Quadruple Project that created Hubris, Humilis, Privo and Venia. The only Project where two twins did not becoming humping bunnies but instead the oldest twins of each participating births instead got involved, the Splitting of the Seraphita's Quadruple Project that created the four was unique because it included the fusing of two Seraphita clones that were blended together and divided into two genetic primordial essence, then those two were divided into two pairs of twins. The next Project was…"

"Beside the point. The main point is that the paired individuals from the Splitting Project, even in that one case that they are not twins – are psychotically, irrationally, erotically co-dependent on each other. Michael and Lucifer or Hubris and Privo for example. You can't bring that up with our brother, Michael may pretend to hate Lucifer into the very Abyss itself, but really he loves and respects his brother more than anyone can understand" announced Raphael as he turned to his Archangel Sister and jabbed his index finger at her "so on that subject, you are to drop it, especially when you yourself cannot understand"

"Whatever, hurry and get them out of here while I watch your retreat" demanded Djibril as she prepared her Archangel Blade, Dante wordlessly picked up the unconscious Nero before making his way towards the entrance.

* * *

**Author's Note - And that is the end of the Pride Rising Arc, it also shows a hint about what this Season is about, it isn't about a single Satan but Two – care to guess what the second is? I guess if you want to find out your going to have to review.**


	5. Son of Leaders Arc: Phase 1

**Phase 4 – Strategy of the Devil **

**Disclaimer – New Arc and therefore shall I change the Disclaimer? Ha, not a chance.**

* * *

**27****th**** December, 9:00am; Italy: Fortuna Island, Mitis Forest: Rebuilt Former Order of the Sword HQ – New Devil Headquarters, Private Wing: Hubris' Chambers – Waiting Room**

Mysticus sat calmly against the Black Leather Sofa located within the Waiting Room outside the Relaxation Chamber/Inner Sanctum belonging to Hubris, the other two doors led from the room into a Large Office Space and the other led into a Bathroom used by Guests, finally there was a pair of glass doors that led out onto a Balcony that overlooked the Advent Chamber that had been turned into a Outdoor Garden with a massive Fake Hell Gate in the centre of the Chamber from where the Savior had once stood. Mysticus had it all constructed as the Main Base of Fortuna's Demon Army and the once white walls of the Order's rebuilt Base had been transformed into reflective metal ebony called Stygian Iron which was eternally mined from Hell itself, Stygian Iron was polar opposite to Celestial Bronze that made up Heaven's weapons, with it Demons could injure Angelic Beings and potentially kill them with great difficulty – Walls infused with both the Stygian Iron and Enochian Ruins allowed Holy Beings working for 'the office upstairs' to be incapable to entering or standing near the building.

"Lord Mysticus" announced Lilith as she stepped in, her True Demon Form included fake Black Angel Wings and her hair drawn back into two large mountains of hair similar to horns, she walked in a tight black and red dress, like all the others she too had been awaiting the commands of the Fallen Archangel but it seemed that Mysticus would have to step in for now as the Commander.

"You are to set up defences in Mitis Forest, understand?" commanded Mysticus and Lilith bowed once before heading off.

* * *

**1:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, East Wing: Nero's Private Chambers, Bedroom**

Nero awoke looking about and sighing when he noticed that they were once again back in the Castle however something had changed…the New Order of the Sword Swarmed New Outer walls outside the Main Castle complex, the Hell Gate Replica was being researched by Scientists in the Courtyard and Nero had to admit that he was impressed that Credo could gather this number of the Fallen Order into a New Order, Nero grunted as he heard the door open and a blond man step in.

"Hello Nero, I'm Archangel Raphael, I came down to watch the casualties of the War" announced Raphael as he crossed over to the white haired man "I'm glad to see your okay"

"What happened?" asked Nero and Raphael sighed as he sat down on a chair.

"Hubris was raised two days ago and Djibril fought against him, the injuries you sustained were from a Spiritual Bond linking the two of you together – a bond between Master and Apprentice or an Adult Angel and their Adolescent Newborn Angel, the bond is spiritual in nature so only your Immortal Soul is feeling the strain of it" explained Raphael as he bridged his fingers "Humans and Demons don't have Immortal Souls, only High Ranked Angels or even their offspring, you my friend are an enigma"

"Because I was born…genetically a Human?" asked Nero and Raphael nodded.

"Genetically, officially your body is the son of a woman and a descendent of Sparda's Fortuna Children, more accurately and unofficially you're an Order created clone of the last known Fortunian Descendent of Sparda which Sanctus made as a battery to power the Savour" explained Raphael logically "however it is your Anima that is different, hence the mutation on your right arm"

"Anima?" questioned Nero and Raphael waved a hand.

"Anima is the Soul or Base Spiritual Energy, Anima can be controlled by Animus which is the Combined Unconscious – essentially a Supercomputer that all Humans are connected to, however yours is comparable to a Grace" answered Raphael calmly as though it were the most obvious thing "Grace is the form of a melding of Anima and Animus in such quality that they are used in Angels, in some Angels they can't reproduce to such an extent that they are considered 'Immortal', however in powerful and/or older Angels their Souls or Grace is self replenishing – Infinite and Immortal. Hubris and other Archangels are an example of these High Angels"

"I see, Hubris is an Archangel?" prodded Nero and Raphael shrugged.

"He was born one – like Michael and Yahweh, some Archangels like me and Djibril are simply created from scratch, Archangels are the highest ranked Angels however they are both a Race of Angels as well as a Rank" explained Raphael with an annoyed sigh "because of his Birth we tend to worry about the coming conflict between Hubris and Djibril, Djibril was created an Archangel however Hubris has a higher energy potential being created from Genetics, from the DNA of a Seraphita – a powerful Six Winged Angel that can distort Time and Space, even create Miracles"

"Making Hubris a Demi-God, designed to be one in essentiality, anyway" commented Djibril as she appeared in the doorway "I was created to counter him, although I am doing a poor job at it, it's too early for the Recurrence which is why I must step in to stop the elements of Discord from devolving this Universe to that point"

"Discord is important however Harmony is needed when the Recurrence Point is not reached, despite what Father has done by leaving he did leave the basics of controlling Assiah however that is the problem, as the Head of the Archangel Think-Tank anything that we have read from our subordinates or God prior to the great War has been read by Hubris" commented Raphael as he looked over at Djibril "he knows how to work Zarathustra and the Zohar, with twelve Vessels of Anima in the collection all he would need it the Key and Maria, once you are defeated he would then begin the Recurrence"

"Hold on! What would it do!" questioned Nero and Raphael turned his head back to face him.

"The Eternal Recurrence is when time in Assiah is returned to the beginning – literally reset so that everything will repeat, a Recurrence is just a single of those, however if Hubris controls the Recurrence then the advantage in the Celestial War would fall to Hell" explained Raphael calmly "Zarathustra is a system that breaks the bonds between the Animus and Anima, rebooting Animus and recycling the changed Anima into its purest form while moving Assiah through Imaginary Space and Time, into a New Universal Domain where it can start anew"

"Ah, how do we stop it?" asked Nero not exactly getting everything that Raphael was forcing him to process.

"First of all Hubris has to get Assiah to the point in which it requires saving, inevitable due to the collapse of the Lower Domain when Anima gains sentience of its own, however Discord will either speed the process along or trick the lower Domain into believing that the end is at hand allowing Hubris to begin the occurrence with very few negative effects" explained Raphael and Djibril shrugged "the Fallen were also the ones who built Zarathustra and hid it away, ironically they had it hidden in the Natural Labyrinth under the Vatican in Italy, what twisted irony"

"We need to worry about Discord first. The best way to promote Discord is to throw the world into Discord, what better way than to take out one of the Elemental Archangels who keep the Balance, better yet if that Archangel is the Demi-Goddess of Harmony" scoffed Djibril from where she stood.

"Dante is preparing for that eventuality" commented Credo as he stepped into the room and nodded at Nero.

"How is Kyrie?" asked Nero and Raphael shook his head.

* * *

**2:30pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, East Wing: Kyrie's Private Chambers, Bedroom**

Nero looked sadly at his adopted sister who ate calmly from her plate before laying back once the food plate had been taken away, the way that Raphael had explained it was that Hubris had worn away the unnecessary parts of her mind in the time that he before Djibril had arrived essentially saving her life, the parts that remained however were the simple parts that kept her functioning and also the assimilation of sustenance in the body. Kyrie stared forwards with no expression on her face and little light in her eyes, Raphael revealed that while Kyrie was alive or mentally intact she could have been trained to use the Holy Blood flowing through her Veins and at some point possibly seal away Hubris once again, Hubris had set up a massive unintended trap in Kyrie's mind because if meddled with anymore on a large scale then her mind would be completely destroyed and she would die – Holy Maidens could not be revived by a Powerful Angel unlike other Humans or Demons.

"Sorry, Kid" commented Dante from where he leaned in the doorway while looking into the room "I'm sorry there was nothing I could have done for you"

"It's alright Dante, you did all you could, I was…never in love with her anyway" answered Nero as he bit his lip and Dante raised an eyebrow "it was just the Soul of a Fallen's Offspring clinking to the Light similar to that it should have been brought up in"

"Nero…" started Dante as he crossed over to the Youth.

"I…always knew deep down that I was different from Humans, Demons were repulsive to me at a glance despite being in the body of a Descendent of Sparda, my Soul was that of a Fallen Angel offspring – Hubris' Son" whimpered Nero as he lifted his knees to his chest, tears trailing down his cheeks.

"Shh" commanded Dante as he whipped away the trails of tears "I don't care who or what you are, we'll find the truth together, I'll stick with you no matter what you decide"

* * *

**4:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Mitis Forest: Rebuilt Former Order of the Sword HQ – New Devil Headquarters, Private Wing: Hubris' Chambers – Relaxation Chamber/Inner Sanctum**

When Mysticus entered the room at his elder brother's mentally communicated request he had been hoping that the Pureblood Archangel would be strong enough to lead his armies from the field, just as the Morningstar's Second had done in the past such as the Great War in Heaven, though more powerful than he had been two days prior it was disappointing to see the Great Hubris so weak. The Flesh under the seen areas of the Archangel's back through the Arch like back pillow of the leather chair had shadows rippling under them, showing the four elegant Black Wings curled and confined under the thick layer of Flesh where they rested. Hubris' black hair overshadowed his naked torso and hence hid it from some of the light, the Inner Sanctum was walled by books shelves except for the centre of the rightmost and leftmost walls, in the centre of the leftmost was a doorway onto the balcony and in the centre of the rightmost was a demonic enhanced portable supercomputer that had been installed when they had taken control of this abandoned base.

"Welcome brother, have a seat" announced Hubris as his leather cushioned automated chair electronically reversed from where he was sitting in front of the computer and spun around in the centre of the room so that it was facing the sitting are in the right corner near the door "we have strategy to talk about"

Only one word came to Mysticus' mind _'Finally!'_

* * *

**5:00pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Mitis Forest: Near Entrance – Rebuilt Ancient Church, Fortress Alpha: Main Tower – Command Room**

Vergil the Son of Sparda and Devil of Chaos stood calmly at the centre of the room over the holographic map table created from Demonic Science and Sorcery, off to the side stood a number of Demonic Military Officials and Lilith as she spoke to her subordinates, the Fake Hell Gate that had been destroyed at the centre of the Forest had been repaired and upgraded similar to the Second Generation Hell Gate Replica used at Fortuna Castle two days prior or so the Dark Archons had reported. The Dark Archons were Apprenticed under the Sorcerer Kings of Hell and answered directly to Mysticus themselves, hence they were well versed in different Magical Arts and even had even briefly glimpsed the ancient texts written by God himself, then again rumours were quite abundant in Hell over their prowess and rumours meant less than nothing next to results on the field of battle.

"We have a report from his Highness" announced Lilith suddenly as she turned to face Vergil with a cruel smile "we are to prepare an advance Force to attack the Fortress City of Fortuna!"

"Is that all, no massive strategy?" ridiculed a General who turned out face dead a second later, Yamato's tip producing from his back.

"There is one, you just won't live long enough to see it unfold" snarled Vergil before letting the corpse drop as he pulled back "anyone else going to question our God of Pride and Discord?"

"No, my Lord!" announced the remaining Generals with salute.

"I'm also to send General Zeohn to the Island of Marbath roughly six miles off the coast of Fortuna, he is to begin his…specialty" announced Lilith and a cruel smirk appeared on the General's Face.

* * *

**7:45pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Mitis Forest: Rebuilt Former Order of the Sword HQ – New Devil Headquarters, Private Wing: Hubris' Chambers – Waiting Room**

Mysticus sat with fingers bridged as he thought over the plan that Hubris had decided on and considered how selfish it was for the Original Devil, if it succeeded however there may be a Tactical Advantage in it with the rising of another Original Devil and Hubris' consort, Zeohn was legendary for his Falling Death and that was what they needed exactly on the Island of Marbath. Using the powers arrayed they would destroy most of Fortuna and use the shudder in the Veil to summon the new Original Devil into Assiah in record time, however only those that Hubris could trust we being told of this plan and that made Mysticus question Hubris' intent, with the opening and closing of the doorway Mysticus looked up to see Vergil standing there with an emotionless look on his face.

"You're expected" dismissed Mysticus as he waved the son of Sparda through.

* * *

**8:00pm; Fortuna Island, Lamina Peak: Fortuna Castle, Northern Tower: Meeting Room**

Credo awaited calmly for everyone to arrive with the last naturally being Nero and Dante however something was still missing, Credo decided that it was that fiery haired Angel known as Michael and what he was doing Credo couldn't imagine, despite his doubts however he was sure that Raphael had claimed that Michael would eventually arrive for the meeting at some point shortly before the meeting and his doubts were dismissed by the entrance of a wobbly Michael.

"You wanted to see me?" questioned Michael as he walked into the room, a wobble to his step.

"A…are you okay?" asked Djibril, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Are you…drunk?" asked Raphael with a raised eyebrow and a childish smirk.

"No!" shouted Michael as he wobbled forwards "…Yes!"

"W…what happened to you?" asked Nero and Michael glanced over at him with a look that said: 'when did he join this unhappy family'.

"I found a liquor store" answered Michael as he leaned against a wall which he slid down with a grunt.

"And?" prodded Djibril as she leaned on the Map covered Table.

"And I drank it!" snarled Michael before glancing over at Raphael "now, what did you want me for"

"You're starting to demand things, like your brother" commented Djibril and Michael glowered at the Water Archangel.

"You will shut the hell up about that" snarled Michael as he glowered at Djibril, his blood boiling like liquid fire, nothing very Divine about the desire for destruction flashing through his eyes.

"Moving on" announced Credo as he stepped forwards "we have to decide on what the easiest means of stopping our enemy would be"

"Simple" announced Djibril as she walked back towards the Table "we get an Archangel Blade and stick it in Hubris' chest, the sooner the better, right?"

"Except that Nero is injured from such a blow, Stab Hubris in the Heart as planned and…well, you catch my drift" interjected Raphael causing Djibril to grin her teeth.

"One half-breed for the Human Race, who cares about him, the problem is that we _need_ to death with Hubris! We _need_ to!" shouted Djibril as she threw her arms out wide "if we don't take him down first, he'll take me out and go ahead with his bloody plans, and we can't let that happen!"

"If I remember right, Djibril, you joined the Angelic Host to stop people from dying" commented Raphael as he leaned against the Table with arms crossed.

"And it is just that contradiction that will be the end of you someday" sneered Michael from where he remained sitting.

"On more pressing matters, we have to stop that Demonic Attack on Fortuna, they are believed to March tomorrow" announced Credo and Michael shrugged again.

"Rushing will make mistakes, Djibril" muttered Michael as stood from his sat position and wobbled out of the room.

"I guess we'll wait for now and see what develops tomorrow" announced Dante as he scratched his head sheepishly.

"Trust me, you won't enjoy the bloody night" scowled Djibril but Dante just grinned as he put his arm around Nero's shoulders, who ironically also scowled and shoved the arm off.

* * *

**10:30pm; Italy: Fortuna Island, Mitis Forest: Rebuilt Former Order of the Sword HQ – New Devil Headquarters, Private Wing: Hubris' Chambers – Relaxation Chamber/Inner Sanctum **

Hubris sat calmly in his plush chair as he typed away at the computer and looked at all the Demonic Information that he had been given, apparently there were others in Hell who were just dying to come up and party on the world of the living, their condition would be to speed along the plan very nicely: the Plan for starting the Apocalypse and the Invasion of Heaven afterwards. He had gathered and nurtured thousands of Human Souls and compressed them to the point that they became thousands of Demons, monstrous beings who had come to reject each other and the Assiah itself – their desire to return things to days long past in their original lives which they no longer remembered, such was the need for the Eternal Recurrence.

"Welcome…" announced Hubris as he looked over towards the open Balcony doors to see a shadowed figure "Michael"

"Yes, it has been a very long time, I've come to talk" announced Michael as he stepped into the light, Hubris' lips widened into a cruel smirk.

* * *

**Author's Note – And that is the end of the first chapter of the Child of the Two Leaders Arc, which ironically the Second Leader only rises during the end of the next arc. If you want to find out what happens then, Review!**


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